Recent Devotions
“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.” (Romans 12:12, CSB) When we pray for a need in our life, do we pray once? Twice? Three times? When do we give up? Do we have the persistence to hold on until the answer comes? Is our trust in God strong enough to leave the answer and the timing up to Him? When we’ve cried out to God for the same situation for weeks, months, or what sometimes feels like forever, it’s easy to become discouraged. Yet, a parable of Jesus in Luke 18 teaches us to hold…
“And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it . . . After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Luke 2:43 and 46,…
“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” (Psalm 141:3, ESV) As I passed a lady in the grocery store aisle, I overheard a snippet of her phone conversation. “Now I’m going to tell you this, but please don’t share it . .…
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“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14, KJV). “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15–16, KJV). What Does It Mean to Go Beyond? The word beyond means “on the further side of,” “a place not yet reached,” or “to a greater degree or excellence.” We often hear the phrase “above…
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Perfection. When I say the word, another quickly comes to mind: impossible. While I may be blind to some of my faults, I recognize enough of my shortcomings to realize that I am a long way from achieving perfection. That realization causes me to wonder if God is commanding me to be something that may be impossible to achieve. THE KEY TO PERFECTION Perfection does not come from our own efforts. It is not within our power to attain this alone. Job said, “If…
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3:13-14. As we come to the close of another year, people make resolutions about what they are going to do better in the coming months. Even as they make them, they realize that they will be forgotten within a few days. As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, how much better it…
“You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!” Nehemiah 9:20-21 NLT Because of the Israelite’s disobedience and stubbornness, they were sent to the wilderness, where they ultimately wandered for 40 years. While this was the consequence of their actions and choices, God never abandoned them. We can read how they lacked nothing during these years, and not even their clothing…
